


Double Trouble

by Vodka_Bot



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Christmas shopping?, Family, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, M/M, Single Dad AU, trust me on this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-09-15 09:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9229115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vodka_Bot/pseuds/Vodka_Bot
Summary: The (mis)adventures of Keith, Lance, and four-year-old twins





	1. First Meeting

Fall... was probably his favorite month. Typical, he knows, everyone loves the colors, the crunching of leaves, how it wasn’t a million degrees outside, pumpkin flavoring being injected into any and all foods possible. Keith liked it for other reasons though. The cold wind blowing through his hair, the fact the snow wasn't quite on the ground yet, the lack of kids getting in his way. It was nice, peaceful…

...until a ball hit Keith in the back of the head.

His headphones clashed onto the ground due to the impact, and he narrowly avoids stepping on them. He also split burning coffee on his hand, which hurts like fuck, but that’s another way to wake up, right? He closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath, while he frantically wipes his hand on his jacket. They're kids. Sure, it’s ten am and they're playing some sort of sport, but yaknow what? They're kids. It's all good, _it's all good-_

"Uh-oh..." Keith opens his eyes, and one of the kids (thank god, there only seemed to be two) was standing over his headphones, which were now absolutely smashed under the weight of the small boy. "...bye!"

And just like that, they're gone with their ball. Keith groans, putting his hand to his head. He doesn't have time for this. He picks up the remnants of his headphones, inspecting them. The wire was visible, which... didn't seem totally broken. Maybe he could fix this at Shiro's house; he probably has superglue, somewhere. 

"Oh my god, I am so sorry-" Keith turns around, officially deciding this is the most eventful morning he's had since his brothers wedding. He's met with... well, fuck, the most beautiful man he's ever seen. Tan skin, brown hair, only an inch taller than he was... "-and I told them to be careful but... oh, uh, can I pay for those?" The brunette pointed at Keith's headphones, and began pulling out his wallet before Keith could even process what he was saying. 

"What- no, no it's fine" 

He stopped, halfway through grabbing a few bills. 

"No, really, it's kinda my fault-" 

Keith sighs, because although this man was gorgeous, he had other places to be right now; like his brothers. He had already left late and this Definitely wasn't winning any brownie points.

"It's- it’s fine. Listen- I have to go. I’m kind of in a hurry and-" 

"Oh- god, sorry," The taller man laughed nervously, looking around. "Let me at least- wait did they apologize?" 

God this guy was persistent. 

"No, no, but-" 

"Oh- god I'm so sorry- Leah! James!" 

Keith groans, loudly, and part of him hopes this guy hears him because _he has to fucking go._ He has places to be.  
Luckily, the kids run over quickly. They look... shockingly like this guy, actually looking at it. Super similar skin tone, same nose. The little girl had striking blonde hair, and the boy had more purplish eyes, but hey, biology works in weird ways. Younger siblings, maybe. That would make sense; irresponsible older brother taking his younger siblings out and losing complete control over them. Sounds like the most likely scenario actually. 

"Now, say you're sorry" 

Keith really needs to start paying attention to what the hell is happening. Both kids look up a him, eyes shifting to look everywhere but at Keith. Their probably-older-brother raises his eyebrow, crossing his arms. The kids finally look at Keith, sheepishly. 

"Sorry..." 

"....It's okay." He gives them a small smile, to get the point across.

Kids were not Keiths favorite thing. From afar they're cute, and sometimes they can be funny, but half the time they're loud, sticky, annoying... he could go on and on. But he's not going to be rude. He has standards for god's sake, he's not going to be overly sarcastic to.. what, five year olds? four year olds? he has no idea. But they are young and he's not going to be an asshole. The kids smile up at him, and quickly run off to go cause havoc elsewhere. Keith stands up straight, realizing that he hand been bent down to talk to them. God, they were absolutely tiny-

"I'm still super sorry about that."

Oh yeah. _This_ guy.

"It's okay. it happens," Keith glanced at his phone, frowning "but I really, really have to go"

The other man nods, a smile tugging at his lips. 

"Alright- uh, hopefully no other rouge soccer balls come flying your way, yeah?" 

"Er... yeah. have a good day... and good luck." 

"Thanks," he smiles, and dear god even his _teeth_ were perfect. "I’ll need it." He quickly runs off to go catch up with the children, and Keith watches for a moment before quickly turning to half-walk-half-jog to Shiro's house.

It's not until he's knocking at the door does he realize he didn't even get the guys name.


	2. Instant Noodles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith gets a surprise while trying to make his noodles.

The blaring noise of Keith's alarm clock disrupted him from his sleep, and he groans loudly. God, he hated Wednesdays.

That's a lie. Wednesdays were probably his favorite day of the week, actually. It's the one day he got off work, and although the day was still full of boring stuff like grocery shopping and cleaning, it was a nice break from dealing with people. Besides, he usually got to sleep in until noon.

Usually.

Today though, his coworker needed the day off. Pidge had some sort of class she had to go too she had forgotten about until the day before, and Keith, being the oh-so wonderful man he is, decided he'd take her shift. As he slumps out of bed, he immediately regrets this decision. His head still hurts from the soccer-ball incident, and he's pretty sure he has a minor concussion. The kids were sure tiny, but god were they powerful. A sigh escapes him as he stands, stretching his arms above his head. He groans as all the kinks work there way out of his body, and mentally prepares for the rest of the day.

 

***

 

“Have a nice day!” Keith smiled until the customer walked through the door, and his face immediately falls. He covers his mouth with his hand as he signs off of the till, and the hand quickly falls to his side. “Fifteen minutes. _Fifteen minutes-_ she just spent five hundred dollars on shirts! Who spends that much money on shirts? Who pays five hundred bucks in twenty dollar bills-!?” Keith groans, loudly, covering his entire face with his hands. Hunk laughs, beside him.

“You’re ten minutes late for your break, you know-”

“I am _well_ aware.” Keith hold his work keys out to Hunk, as he starts walking towards the backroom. “I will be back in forty-five minutes. No sooner than that.” Hunk laughs again, grabbing the keys.

"Have a good break! Enjoy your lunch!” Keith smiles gently, because Hunks entire attitude was so contagious. It was a nice, having someone who's genuinely cheerful whilst working in retail.

Keith plops down in the old chair, plopping his work apron onto the table in front of him. He takes a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. He had forty-five minutes to do whatever he wanted. He could sit here and do nothing. He could go home and nap. He could eat those instant noodles he brought with him.

Noodles sound good.

As he's waiting for the kettle to boil- it's not a very good kettle- he can hear Allura talking about unloading boxes. Keith is vaguely reminded of why he doesn't work Wednesdays. Taking stuff out of the delivery truck, lining it up… he did that about twice when he first started working here, and then booked Wednesdays off forever. It not like he wasn't up for the job, he would more than gladly carry a few boxes, but there's just so many. Not to mention, once it gets cold outside you have to wear all your outdoor clothes and carry boxes. Then you're still expected to work the rest of your shift, sweaty, gross and cold.

It's just not a good time.

Allura apparently was able to hire someone to specifically to unload all the boxes. Keith has never met the guy, since he only works Wednesdays and Keith never works Wednesdays. Its just never happened, and Keith doesn't care if they ever meet. Hes here to make money, not friends; despite the fact he cares excessively over everyone who works here.

“Alright, I'll get those boxes unloaded by tomorrow, princess!” Keith scoffs, turning around. _Princess_? Who the hell does this guy think he is, calling Allura princess, what kind of asshole-

His thoughts stop dead in his tracks, as he makes eye contact with box-guy.

...This is a joke, right? This is the universe playing some cruel, cruel joke.

This can't be happening.

“..the park!” Keith blinks, bringing himself back to reality.

“...What?”

“You’re- you’re the guy from the park! That James hit with the soccer ball!” Keith would not be opposed to lightning suddenly striking him right now. He’d prefer that, actually. He would love to just drop dead, right now, so he doesn't have to look at this _beautiful man in the face what the fuck why is he here-_

“...you doing okay?”

Oh, he's talking again. Okay. be smooth. Say something nice.

“Who are you again?”

Keith physically feels a part of his soul die. The other man stares at him blankly for a moment, and gives a small confused smile.

“From- from the park. Yaknow the soccer ball-”

“Oh yeah, I remember that. And the burn on my hand. Not you though.” Well he's already come this far, too late to go back now. Keith rule #1: if you make a mistake, play it off like you mean it. Just because Keith follows this rule, does not mean it's a good idea.

The taller man huffs, and sets his hands on his hips.

“Man, I offered you money and everything, yet you can't even remember my face. I'm hurt.” He smiles a little bit. “Names Lance.”

“...Keith.” There's an awkward silence between the two, which is broken by the sound of boiling water from the kettle. Keith quickly turns, to pour the water into his noodle cup.

“Aw, are those instant noodles? I haven't had those in like twelve years.”

“That's your problem.”

“Didn't say it was a problem.”

Keith could basically hear the smirk in Lance's voice. He huffs, watching his noodles. This guy- _this guy-_  he pulls out his phone, hoping to look busy. He wasn't really doing anything, just mindlessly staring at a page. Maybe he'll trick Lance into thinking he has a social life.

“Alright, well, lovely talk, but I have to go move boxes. I only have…” Lance looks at his wristwatch “...three hours before I gotta go. Guessing it'll be a while till I see you again?”

Keith nods, barely looking away from his phone. “Yeah. Later.”

“Later!” Keith is silent until he hears the door click, and he lets out a sigh. Dear god, how do you tell a guy he's beautiful as hell when you're only capable of being an asshole? He adds the flavoring to his noodles, mixing them in with a fork while he's deep in thought.

He considers asking Allura to start getting shifts on Wednesdays.

He decides he's going to do exactly that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyy this chapters a little longer!!! the first chapter got a really good response, and i just wanna say thank you???? it gave me alot of motivation so i wrote and edited this in like an hour and a half. No one beta read this chapter so i Hope its alright!!  
> thank you for reading!!


	3. Questions and Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith figures out some stuff, mostly about Lance.

Maybe his crush-induced impulsive decisions to work on Wednesdays was a bad idea.

 

Not only does Keith have to deal with unloading boxes and being all sweaty, but his schedule is completely thrown off. He's been out of fruit for like a week, since it totally slipped his mind to go to the superstore and get some oranges. Hell, even something like bananas would be fine at this point. He just need something that wasn't instant noodles. That's been his only source of food, along with pre-packaged lipton packets. 

 

Keith slips into the back room whilst contemplating his food situation.  _ Another _ reason why he shouldn't of done this, is because him and Lance don't work well together.

 

At all. 

 

They just can't communicate with each other. Keith will start making a pile for the boxes with shirts, and then Lance will start his own, and Keith ends up putting scarf-boxes on Lances shirt boxes, and it takes way longer than it should- It was just a disaster. Keith wanted to do this with Lance. He really did. 

 

Keith quickly makes his way to his work locker, opening it and shoving his things inside. He grabs his work apron from the small rack hanging there, and starts tying it on. It wasn't necessary to wear it in the warehouse, Allura wasn't too picky. Keith just didn't want dirt all over his clothes. He paid ten dollars for that shirt. You know how much that is? Too much. 

 

He turns towards the table, and notices a familiar head of shaggy brown hair.

 

“Oh, hey, Lance-” Wait. Keith stares in surprise for a moment, before a smile tugs at his lips. Lance was sleeping on the table. Not on the table per say, but he was hunched over, head resting in his crossed arms. His breathing slightly overpowering the muffled playlist playing from the store speakers. He was kinda cute when he slept, when his mouth wasn't running a mile a minute. 

 

Not like that wasn't cute, but still. 

 

Keith quietly makes his way to Lance, pulling out a chair and sitting beside him. He knew Lance started at this same time, so he wasn't on break.  _ How long has he been waiting here for _ , Keith wonders. Keith also thinks about waking him up. Like, yeah, Lance starts in about three minutes, but if the guy fell asleep in such a compromising position he must be tired, right?  The bags under his eyes also implied Lance needed to sleep. He looked like he was pretty out. No harm in saying he tried waking up Lance, right?

 

“Hey… Lance.” Keith gently nudges him, gently setting his hand on Lance's shoulder. Lance immediately shoots up, but takes a moment to yawn.

 

“What, James, what is it…?” Lance runs a hand through his hair, glancing at Keith. “....oh- you're- you're not James-” Lance rubs his eyes gently, getting any gunk that might have appeared from his impromptu nap out from his eyes. Keith lets out a small snort in response to Lance's realization that no, he is not in fact a four-year-old boy. 

 

“Bad sleep last night?” 

 

“Guess you could say that,” Lance responds, stretching in his chair. “I was up late studying for my classes, and then James was absolutely convinced there was something under his bed. I checked like five times! He would  _ not _ go to bed!” Lance throws his hands in the air, for emphasis. Keith lets out a small breathy laugh, because Lance is so emotive. “And then I had to get them up for school and Leah wouldn't get her pants on and James took like thirty minutes to eat like five fruitloops-” Lance ends in a huff, setting his hands back on a table. “Guess I wasn't much better as a kid, though.”

 

“Yeah I would imagine... Your parents out of town or something?” Keith rests his chin on his hand as he questions Lance. There were either two reasons he had to take care of his siblings: his parents are gone, or he was just a very, very caring brother. Keith wouldn't be surprised if it was both. 

 

“...No?” Lance sounded just as confused as Keith was about the situation.

 

“Then why do you have to drive the twins to school?”

 

Lance narrows his eyes a bit, trying to figure out what Keith was asking. Not a moment later, his face lights up, and a small smile appeared on his face.

 

“Wait, wait… You think James and Leah are my brother and sister?”

 

“...Yes…?” Keith can feel panic welling up in his chest. Was he wrong? Were they not siblings? Cousins, perhaps? Niece and nephew? God what if they weren't even related and Lance was just babysitting-

 

Laughter breaks Keith's thoughts, only to realize Lance was the one laughing. 

 

“Keith- Keith, buddy-” Lance sets a hand on Keith's shoulder, his laughs slowly fading out from his voice. “I’m- Keith, I'm their  _ dad _ ; they're my  _ kids.” _

 

Keith looks at Lance, and decided that made sense. They look enough alike, Lance was tired, which wasn't uncommon with people with young kids. Lots of Keith questions were answered, but still…

 

“...Wait, how old are y-”

“Twenty Two. Just don't- comment about it.” Lance stands up, grabbing his apron from the table. “Cmon, we should go move some boxes. We’re already a little late.” 

 

Keith watches as Lance quickly leaves the break room, and out the door. Twenty two. For a second there, he thought Lance was just a young looking twenty-eight year old.  _ Twenty two _ . With two four year old kids. How crazy must that be?

 

Another question crosses Keith's mind as he makes his way towards the warehouse:

 

If Lance has kids, there's a really good chance he's married.

 

Dammit. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyy its been like a week!!! sorry i have the most inconsistent structure ever for this. I have exams soon so the next chapter might not be for a while, but i do already have it started, so who knows. 
> 
> So lance is a dad, who saw that coming. (everyone but keith tbh)
> 
> Have a great day yall!!


	4. Some babys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance Ft the night

Lance breathed quietly, so quietly that the only noise that filled the room was the ticking of the clock, accompanied by the occasional sound of shuffling fabric from one of the two people in the room. 

 

No, wait. Four people. There’s four people in the room. 

 

He tiredly blinked his eyes, leaning back in the god-awful plastic chair to stretch. The hospital room only had one bed, which was currently occupied by the snoozing love-of-his-life who was more tired than he was, so it's not like he could complain very much. He let out a sigh, staring out at the lit up city. The room was up high enough to have a decent view of the surrounding area. A few houses, a supermarket. Lance was eighty-three percent sure he saw a starbucks in the distance, but he was way to exhausted to actually try and make it out. 

 

A small squawk from the other end of the room snaped Lance out of his daydream, and he looked over at the small basinet at the end of his girlfriends- no, wait, his wife's- bed. He stood up from the chair and took a step over, the small room making it easy to get from place to place. The small pink bundle squirmed, letting out a little cry. Lance reached down, carefully, brushing his finger along the baby’s cheek.

 

“What’s wrong, Baby girl...?” Lance smiled as she just whined again, unable to actually answer him. He moved his hand to set one under her head, and the other under her butt, to slowly and carefully lift up the small girl. He cradled her close to his chest, rocking slowly. “It's okay… It's okay, Papa’s here.” He said soothingly, quiet enough so that he didn't wake the other two. She quiets down, and stops squirming as she is gently rocked in Lance's arms. 

 

Lance smiled down at her, and he’s confident he's close to crying for the third time that night. He slowly sways with her as he watched out across the city once again. This was his daughter.  _ His _ daughter. Lance was certain he wanted to be a dad one day, but he wasn't expecting it to be so soon. 

 

He also wasn't expecting twins. 

 

Of course, no one is really expecting twins. And he _knew_ they were coming, but seeing ultrasounds and hearing doctors and his wife say “it's twins” is so _drastically_ different than actually seeing them. He looked down at his daughter again, and she seems to have gone back to sleep, or at least calmed down. He headed back over to the bassinet, gently setting her inside. He looked at the one next to it, at his son. His _son_. Everything felt so surreal. Just yesterday he was applying to university, and now he's here. In a hospital room at four in the morning. 

 

He watched over the two peaceful blue and pink bundles, still as a log as they doze away. 

 

To be fair, the two will wake up in about an hour to eat, but at least they're cute when they're not screaming.  

 

Lance leaned over, gently booping his son's nose with his finger. The baby didn’t do anything, comfortably snoozing. A light chuckle escaped Lance's throat, and although they’re only half a day old he can’t wait until the two are running around, causing mayhem, when he comes home from work to a wife and two beautiful kids, hell, maybe more if shes up for it-

 

He’ll think about that when he's like, twenty-four though. It’s a bit too early for thinking about having more kids. He let out a happy hum, as he looked over the twins. 

 

Ramira and Kosmo Fuentes. 

 

Of course, the names were still a work in progress. 

  
He’d talk to his wife about that when she woke up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its almost midnight and i know thats not impressive but i wrote this and proofread it in like an hour. so. yeah here it is??? i felt bad bc its been two weeks!!!! i do wanna thank everyone who comment and left kudos :3 your all so nice ily all!


	5. Mediocre Pizza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance go on a date
> 
> Kind of

“Am I free?” 

 

“Yeah.” Keith nods along with the verbal confirmation. “Like, tomorrow. We could, yaknow, all go out for dinner or something.” 

 

It had taken Keith a few weeks to work up the confidence to actually ask Lance out. Of course, he wasn't actually asking him out. He was married. And had kids. At least, Keith assumed he was married. After some (hopefully) discreet checking, he never saw a ring on Lances finger. Of course, they were carrying stuff so Lance very well might just take it off for work. Keith also wasn't just going to ask if he was married or not. That would be weird.

 

Lance mulls over Keith's question for a second, before nodding.“Yeah, I’m not doing anything tomorrow.” Lance picks up his bag, since Keith had just caught him on his way out. “You said dinner, right? What about like… Five?” 

 

“Five is good.” Keith thought that was kind of early, but to be fair it's not like he had a scheduled dinner time. Sometimes he ate at six. Sometimes he ate at three in the morning. Sometimes he had about three different dinners, depending on how much food he had. This also meant sometimes he had no food. It was a day-to-day basis, really. 

 

Lance smiles at Keith, before waving. 

 

“Alright! Send me your address, I'll pick you up. Later, gator!” His smile widens some more, before Lance quickly makes his way towards the break room door. Keith smiles, but also raises his eyebrows because really? ‘Later gator’? He shakes his head before leaning back in his chair. What kind of food does Lance like, anyway? Keith starts brainstorming some places they should go… Lance probably knew they would go somewhere nicer; like a steakhouse, or that new sushi place that opened just a few blocks away. Keith was sure he had a nice looking shirt somewhere in his sorry excuse for a closet. He nodded to himself, almost missing that he had to head back from his break.

 

~~~

 

This is definitely not what Keith was expecting. 

 

Honestly, he doesn't think anyone expects their first date to be at a Boston pizza drastically overdressed for the current situation while accompanied by two kids. Then again, usually people who plan for a date actually communicate with each other. 

 

Somehow, Lance took the invitation as a way to invite  _ everyone  _ to supper, including James and Leah. Keith was expecting just to have the two of them, so he had actually put on a nice looking dress shirt after deciding that they would, in fact, go to the new sushi place. When he saw Lance at his door, in a t-shirt and jeans, he thought maybe he should've told Lance where they were going. Once he got inside his god-awful little box car, and saw the kids, he  _ really _ should've clarified with Lance what they were actually doing.

 

So now, here he is. Pouting a bit in a Boston pizza while Lance plays tic-tac-toe with James.

 

“Oh, look at that! You beat me!” Lance sets down his crayon, close to the kids’ side of the table. 

 

“See? I AM the best!” James triumphantly grabs the crayon covered napkin, as the colouring sheets they had been given were already destroyed in a mess of red and blue crayons. He shoved it in his sister’s face, who grabbed it and ripped it out of James’s grip. “Heeeeey!!!!”

 

Lance watches them for a second, before deciding to let them deal with the napkin themselves, because honestly he has more important things to deal with. He looks over at Keith, who's watching cars pass by the road through the booth’s window. 

 

“...Listen I had no idea-” 

 

“I know! I know, Lance.” Keith sits up, fixing his posture. “I guess I didn't actually tell you  _ where _ or  _ what  _ we were doing. The only thing I said was ‘hey want to go for dinner at five’ and no other information.”

 

“...Guess I shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion you meant me  _ and _ the kids, huh?”

 

“I just assumed you were going to get someone to watch them! Like- I dunno, their mom?” Keith looked at Lance. “...Or is she busy and that's why you had to bring them?”  

 

Lance looked back over at Keith, and gave him a really awkward smile, accompanied by a small, breathy laugh.

 

“Well, you see, that's the thing-” 

 

“Papa said Mama left to do her own thing a loooong time ago! Papa stayed with us though.” Leah looks up at her dad, smiling at him a little. The conversation falls silent, the white noise of the restaurant filling the empty space. “Right?”

 

“...Yes, Leah, you're right.” He smiles back at her, and she goes back to colouring. 

 

Keith looks over at Lance, staring at him for a moment.

 

“...Wait, you're raising the both of them by yourself?”

  
“Well, technically, yeah. My parents help out, and I mean, Hunk helps out a lot, too- Oh, thanks.” The waiter had come by to set down two pizzas, some chicken strips, and some grilled cheese. Lance eyes Keith’s pizza as he moves it towards him. “...I can't believe you got both anchovies and pineapple.”

 

“Lance, let me live goddammit-” Lance slaps his shoulder, and nods his head towards the opposite side of the table. Keith glances over, looking at the kids. “...Gosh dangit.”

 

“There we go.” Lance pulls over James's grilled cheese, cutting it from diagonal halves into triangle shaped corner pieces. He pushes it back to him, and he gladly starts eating the inside part. Leah starts organizing her fries into a nice stack on the plate, leaving her chicken strips to the side. Lance takes a piece of his pizza, biting into it. “Man, yaknow, this is probably better than any sushi place we could have gone too.”

 

“You’ve obviously never been a good sushi place. You’re also delusional if you think Boston pizza is better than any kind of sushi.” Keith takes a bite of his mediocre pizza, because honestly, no one really thinks Boston pizza has  _ the best _ pizza in the world. Right?

 

Lance laughs, side-eyeing Keith. “I mean, all sushi sucks.”

 

Keith scoffs, and looks at him. “Why did I take you out for dinner. We can't be friends anymore. I’m booking Wednesdays off again.” 

 

The other man's laugh got louder, as he gently punches Keith. Keith smiles as he takes another bite, the mediocre pizza suddenly tasting ever-so-slightly better. 

 

~~~

 

Lance's car pulls up to Keith's house, parking quietly. He looks over at Keith, the music from the radio gently playing from the speakers. 

 

“Well, we’re here.” 

 

Keith nods, looking out the windshield.

 

“Yup… we sure are.” He glances back at the kids, who are sound asleep in their carseats. He looks back to Lance, and clears his throat a bit. “...Can I ask something?”

 

Lance thinks for a second, and nods. “Shoot.”

 

“When did their mom leave? Like, what happened?” 

 

Lance is quiet for another moment, leaning back against his seat. He sighs a little, and shrugs. “They were about… Man, six months old-” 

 

“Wait six  _ months _ -”

 

“Yeah, yeah six months. She just… didn't want to be a mom. She had whatever life she wanted to live, and I had mine, and so she left.”

 

The car is quiet again, the radio seeming too loud suddenly. Keith also didn't know what to say, since dealing with anything emotional wasn’t his strong point. 

 

“...Sorry… to hear that.” Real smooth, Keith, real smooth. Lance just shrugs again, looking over at Keith.

 

“Eh, it's okay. We weren't together that long anyway.” He smirks at Keith. “Besides, if I still had her, I wouldn't be able to stare into your beautiful eyes-” 

 

Keith immediately shoves his palm in Lance's face, who lets out a little snort. 

 

“Well, thanks for the ride, I'm going now”

 

“No no no wait-” There's the sound of a door opening.

 

“I’ll see you on Wednesday, Lance.” The palm is removed from his face, and Lance laughs quietly, looking at Keith, who's now standing outside of the door. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, see you Wednesday… and, uh, thanks for the dinner. It was nice, even if it wasn't what you wanted.”  A smile tugs at Keith's lips, and he sets his hand on the car door.

 

“Yeah, no problem. It… was kind of nice. See you later, Lance.” 

 

“Adios, Amigo.”

 

Keith rolls his eyes a bit, before shutting the passenger side door. He waves a little bit at Lance, who waves back. He hustles to his door, since he's in nothing but a button up shirt and dress pants, and the fact that winter was just around the corner wasn't helping with how cold he was. He makes his way in, turning on the light and shutting the door. The muffled sound of Lance's car is heard backing up, and Keith looks out the door’s window to watch him pull away and drive off. Once again a smile pulls at Keith's lips, and he sighs. In all honestly, he's kind of glad the date- which is what Keith is going to refer to it as now knowing Lance is single- didn't go exactly as planned. Also since he found out Lance doesn't like sushi, meaning the date probably would've flopped anyway.  He sighs happily, leaning against the front door. 

 

Maybe they could go out again some other time.

 

And you know what- he wouldn't even mind of the kids came too.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoo hoo! my longest chapter yet!!! i actually took my time on it and got someone to beta read so the typos should be at a minimum! i hope you enjoyed it, bc wow that took me a while to write. once again thanks for all the kudos and comments because we actually got to 100 kudos with chapter four :'3 yallre great


	6. Sicko

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The obligatory sick chapter. Lance is sick, Keith hangs out with the kids, and they all enjoy some no-exactly homemade chicken noodle soup.

Keith walked into the back room, somehow already feeling sore. He hadn't even moved anything yet. Perhaps it was the fact he had been lying down for a good thirteen hours, he didn't even go on a walk this morning. ‘It was too cold,’ he reasons to himself. Then he heard the noise of what sounded like a dying cat hacking up a hairball. He turns the corner to see Lance coughing violently into a tissue, sneezing into it afterwards.

 

Huh, speaking of a cold.

 

“...You don't seem too hot.” Lance snorts, wiping off his nose.

 

“Please, I'm as hot as ever. Literally, I have a slight fever.”

 

Keith sighs, walking over to the table where Lance is sitting. Lance leans back in his chair with a groan, closing his eyes so he no longer has to look at the artificial lights.

 

“...Okay, you need to go home. I feel like I’m going to be sick just watching you.” Perhaps Keith didn't phrase that correctly, but honestly, he's never been the best at helping people. He's never had anyone to help, and he can barely take care of himself, even when he isn't sick. Caretaking isn't his strong point, but goddamn if he was going to lose an argument with sick Lance. “You're not even supposed to be working with a fever… I- I don't think.”

 

Lance sighs, sitting back up. He rests his elbow on the back of the chair, spreading his legs and looking at Keith. “Keith, it's not even that bad, I've-” Lance interrupts himself with a sneeze."I’ve been through worse.” Keith realizes that Lance looks so much paler than he remembers, not to mention his usually perfect hair is plastered to his forehead with sweat.

 

Without thinking, Keith puts his hand against Lance's forehead, causing him to let out a small squeak of confusion. “Christ, Lance, you're burning up. I don't think you understand what a ‘light fever’ means.”

 

“Keith, it's fine. I'll be okay-” 

 

“No, no, you sound like a dying whale. I'll be back in a second, don't move.” Keith pulls away, and starts making his way towards the management office.

 

“Keith, I need the money from this shift I'll be fine-” Lance stands, throwing a hand to his head and sitting back down with a loud groan.

 

Keith looks back, looking at Lance. “Yup, you seem completely fine to me.”

 

“...Shut up and go talk to Allura.”

 

“Already on it.”

 

~~

 

“Your car smells like Mcdonald's.” 

 

"I didn't have time to make myself breakfast.”

 

“God, no wonder you're sick,” Keith turned the keys in the ignition, doing it again after Lance’s car wouldnt start. “And your car really doesn't work too well.”

 

“I know, I know, surprisingly I use it every day-” He sneezes, groaning and hugging his shoulder. He uses his other hand to reach towards the radio, turning it down.

 

“...You do have medicine at your house, right?” Keith backs up the car, making his way to the parking lot's exit.

 

"I have…kids medicine. I took some of that this morning.” 

 

“...Okay I don't think that's dangerous but that sure as hell isn't going to help you, a grown man.”

 

"It's all I have! The kids get sick all the time, who knows what germs they catch from the other kids at preschool!”

 

Keith rolls his eyes, mumbling. "And who knows what germs you get from your kids.” Lance sighs, leaning back in his seat and admitting defeat. He closes his eyes, hugging his shoulders as if he's trying to warm himself up. Keith glances over every so often, to make sure his friend hasn't died in the passenger seat.

 

After a good ten minutes, Keith parks the car. He reaches over, gently nudging the sleeping Lance. Lance mumbles, rolling over to look at Keith with half lidded eyes.

 

“Mh… wh?”

 

“You have a fever, cough, headache… does your stomach hurt?” Lance shakes his head. “Throat?”

 

“...a lil…” 

 

Keith nods, unbuckling his seatbelt. “Go back to sleep.” Lance mumbles, rolling back over and immediately passing back out. Keith gets out of the car, locks it, and heads into the CVS.

 

After a good five minutes of browsing through the medicine, Keith had bought what Lance needs and some extra. He had assumed Lance  _ only _ had kid medicine, so he thought Lance would appreciate the gift. Keith gets back into the car and looks over at Lance, who is still snoozing away in the passenger seat. He sets the bag onto Lance's lap gently, as to not disturb him, and then starts the car .

 

It then occurs to Keith he doesn't even know where Lance lives. He reaches over and shakes Lance a little, who sits up kind of confused, and looks at Keith.

 

"I need to know where you live.” Lance blinks, confused, before remembering Keith is driving him home.

 

“Yeah, yeah… uh…” Lance thinks for a moment, rubbing his head. “...The Quiznak Apartment Complex, right off of south trail…”

 

Keith nods. “Go back to sleep.”

 

"But what if you need directions-”

 

“Well, there's this wonderful thing called technology,” Keith holds up his phone, “And you almost forgot where you lived. I don't think you could direct me there no matter how hard you tried.” Lance stared at Keith for a moment, before nodding and looking at the bag in his lap.

 

“...what is this?”

 

“Medicine, you're taking some when you get home.”

 

"Wait, you just  _ bought _ it-”

 

"Yes! Just- go back to sleep!” Keith was getting a little fed up, because although Keith absolutely loved Lance’s company, there's only so many questions he can deal with. Keith grabs the bag and throws it onto the backseat, between the little booster seats on either side. "There, it's out of sight, go back to bed.”

 

"I'd hardly consider a car a bed.”

 

“...Just- sleep.” Lance huffs in defeat, turning away from Keith in the most dramatic fashion a feverish 22 year old buckled into a car seat can do. Keith rolls his eyes, quickly punching the address into his phone, and heads on his way towards Lance's apartment complex.

 

~~

 

“Lance, get up, we're here.” He parks in front of the building, as Lance groans and sits up again.

 

"That was fast…”

 

"It's been like half an hour.”

 

"Oh.” Keith smiles a bit, unbuckling his seatbelt and twisting to reach behind and grab the medicine. Lance also unbuckles his, opening the door and exiting the car. Keith follows suit, walking around to stand next to Lance.

 

“Cmon, you bag of germs.”

 

“I don't get a break, do I?” 

 

“Nah.” Keith smiles at him, grabbing Lances keys from his hand before he could protest. He held the card up to the sensor, opening it for Lance.

 

“Well, aren't you-” whatever Lance was planning on saying was quickly interrupted by a coughing fit.

 

“Lance, just stop talking.” He heads in after, making his way to the elevator. “What floor do you live on?” Lance hold up four fingers, still making his way through his coughing fit. Keith nods, entering the elevator when it comes and pulling Lance in. Lance clears his throat, taking a deep breath and leaning against the back of the elevator wall. “...You better not have whooping cough.”

 

“...Doesn't that involve diarrhea?” 

 

“Do I look like a doctor?”

 

“You're sure acting like one-” Lance finishes that sentence with a sneeze, and Keith rolls his eyes.

 

“Because you refused to stay home like a normal person when your actually sick.” The elevator dings, and Keith drags Lance off the elevator. “Apartment number?”

 

“413.”

 

Keith makes his way over to Lance's apartment, sticking the key in the door and unlocking it. As the door opens the first thing he can say is… it looks small. The kitchen is right across from the entryway, separated by only a small strip of carpet. As Keith enters more, he can see that down the hall to the left is a Bedroom at the end, and a bathroom about midway. To the right is what looks like a living room. It seems good for a couple, or someone living on their own, but…

 

“You live here with two kids?”

 

“It's the best I can afford,” Lance explains, "There's not a whole lot of selection for a young, broke, single dad of two.” Keith frowns, kicking his shoes off.

 

“Where do you sleep?”

 

“The couch folds out.” Lance sniffles, walking across to the kitchen and setting the medicine on the small wooden diner table. “The kids share the bedroom.”

 

Keith frowns more, heading to the living room. “The black couch?”

 

“Yeah, that one.” Lance shuffles through the medicine, picking up the one that he actually needed. “...Keith you didn't have to buy all of this-”

 

“Well, I did, and I'm pretty sure medicine has a no-return policy.” Keith starts to fold out the couch. "And no, your not paying me back.” He can hear Lance groan from the kitchen, and Keith can't help but smile a little. He makes sure the bed is all set up, tossing the blankets and pillows that were just stacked on the couch onto the futon. “Did you take the medicine yet?”

 

"No-”

 

“Hurry up! And go get changed into pajamas or something.” Lance mumbles what Keith said, making a face like a child would. He quickly takes two pills from the bottle Keith got him, gulping it down with a small glass of water. He heads to the futon, kicking off his jeans as he goes, and flops down on it.

 

“Can you grab me a shirt from the dresser over there?” Lance points behind the couch, into what Keith assumes is supposed to an an office area. Instead it has been filled with room-themed furniture. “In the second drawer.”

 

Keith walks over, opening it. “So, are you just going to change right there, seeing as your pants are already off?”

 

"Yeah, it's easier.” Keith throws the shirt at him, and it drapes over Lance's head.

 

“You have no shame.”

 

“What, like you wouldn't like to see me shirtless?” Lance takes the shirt off his head, smiling tiredly at Keith.

 

“I'm not answering that.” It's not like Keith would  _ oppose _ that idea, however, he'd rather see Lance shirtless in a situation that wasn't him being sick. So, therefore, he decides to grab the medicine and take it to the bathroom to put it away. He hears Lance laugh, and the shuffling of fabric.

 

“That's not a ‘no’, Keith!”

 

"I just said, I wasn't answering!”

 

"People only say that when they don't want to admit something!” 

 

Keith doesn't respond to that, quietly and slowly putting away the medicine. The bathrooms a little bit of a mess, mostly because of the bath toys on the ground, the spilled toothpaste on the sink, the smeared makeup on the mirror and on the counter, and the two little stools which either make you impossibly tall or you have to lean awkwardly to reach the sink. There's no mistaking that at  _ least  _ one child uses this bathroom. 

 

“Hey, you done changing yet?” Keith yells from the bathroom, closing the little medicine cabinet door.

 

“Yeah, I'm good.” Keith walks back out to find Lance snuggled into the blankets and pillows, and he is sure that somehow Lance found more pillows. It looked like he had made a little nest out of the blankets and pillows. Keith would admit it looked very comfortable.

 

“You look comfy.”

 

“I don't know why I ever left bed this morning.”

 

“Neither do I.” Keith sat on a chair, the back of it pressing against the kitchen wall. Lance sighed, closing his eyes and relaxing into the nest. Keith smiles a little, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. If he's being honest, taking care of a sick person is real freaking exhausting. He probably shouldn't be complaining because he offered, but he decides he might have a small nap while Lance has his-

 

“THE KIDS!” Keiths eyes shot open, staring at Lance, who's abandoned his  comfortable state to sit up. Lance puts a hand to his head, groaning. "They- I have to pick them up at like five thirty, they have swimming after school-”

 

“Christ, Lance, chill out.” Keith stands up, walking over and lying Lance back down. “It's only like noon, I can pick them up. You need to sleep.” Lance groans, opening his mouth to say something. Keith puts his finger on Lances lip, glaring at him. “ _ Sleep _ .” Lance blinks, closing his mouth and shutting his eyes. Keith pulls away, making his way back to his chair.

 

“...your surprisingly paternal, yet, an asshole at the same time.”

 

"I'll take that as a compliment.” Keith smiles a little, and he can see the edges of Lance's lips curve up a little.

 

~~

 

After a good five-ish hours of both of them sleeping on and off, eating crackers, and making sure Lance wasn't dying, Keith had left the apartment to go grab the kids. He had gotten Lance to send him the address of where to pick them up, and it wasn't too far. He just wanted to make sure he got there a little bit early. Lance had also called in to tell the swimming instructors someone else was picking up the kids so it wasn’t just some random stranger. Keith got in the car, quickly leaving the apartment complex and making his way towards the swimming centre.

 

He arrived in about twenty minutes, pulling up near the front doors, and parking. He exited the car and started making his way towards the doors. He wasn't sure if Lance usually waited outside, or went inside, or what, but he thought he'd get the initial excitement out of the way. He walked in the doors, firstly noticing the sea of damp preschoolers running around. He looked through them, trying to spot Leah and James-

 

“Keiiiiiiith!!!!” Keith looked to his right, his legs being quickly occupied by wet four year olds. Keith wonders if they're usually like this after their swimming class: undried. He wonders for a moment if Lance taught them what a towel was.

 

“Are you driving us home?” James looks up at Keith, smile wide and eyes bright. Leah is looking at him similarly, but she remains silent and just sways, using Keith's leg as a pivot. Keith ruffles a hand through James’ wet hair (which he immediately regrets), and smiles at them.

 

“Yup. Your daddy-”

 

“Papa!!” Leah looks at Keith, with a small smile.

 

“...your… uh, papa, is sick. So I'm helping him out.” The kids nod in understanding, letting go of Keith’s legs and each grabbing one of Keith’s hands. Keith looks over at the swimming instructor, whose marking something off on her little clipboard. She looks up and smiles at Keith, and he assumes that means ‘you're good to go’, so he smiles back, albit a little bit awkwardly, and they leave the centre. “...so, uh… how was swimming?” 

 

“It was soooo much fun!” James replied, doing little skips as he walks. “We learned how to um- go backwards. And we played a game! And- and we um… got stuff from the bottom of the pool! And we floated!!” He started getting more and more excited as they made their way to the car. Leah watched her feet as she walked, but was listening to her brother. She was giggling, smiling widely. 

 

“We-” She started, giggling a little. “We also splashed a lot! I got James really really good!”

 

“Oh, good job.” Keith smiles at them, because honestly he has no idea how to communicate with kids. They get to the car and Keith opens the back door, looking at the carseat. He admits to himself he also had no idea how to do this. “...Does Lance- er, your papa usually buckle you in or-”

 

“I can do it!” James yells, frantically trying to climb into the car. Keith helps him up, so the poor kid didn't fall onto the ground. “I’ve done it so many times, papa says I'm the bestest at it!” He sits in the seat, backpack still on. Keith grabs it for him, taking it off and setting it in the middle. James grabs the lil belts and starts putting them on, but… Keith isn’t sure that’s how it goes. 

 

“...James, hold on…” Keith starts messing around with the belts, and hey, look at that. They fit. He tugs on it a little. “Is- is that to tight?”

 

“Nuh uh!!” James smiles at him, and it's almost the exact same smile Lance has. Keith smiled back, leaning out and closing the door.

 

“Alright Leah, you ready?” He turns around, ready to grab Leah's hand.

 

Um. Where is she. 

 

Keith looks around for a sec, and low-key starts panicking. He's been with Lance’s kids alone for five minutes and already he's lost one of them- 

 

“Keith! I can't open it!!” Keith whips around, realizing Leah has already moved to the other side of the car. He sighs in relief, walking over. Leah has her hand on the handle of the car, and she finally manages to pull hard enough and swing it open. She smiles, throwing her backpack on the ground and climbing inside. Keith quickly helps her, buckling her into the carseat much quicker than he did with James, and setting the backpack somewhere in the back. He gets into the driver's seat, buckling his seatbelt, and starts the car.

 

“Alright,” He looks in the rearview mirror, at the kids.”You two ready to go home?”

Leah nods, and James nods as well, kicking his legs. Keith smiles at them, and off they go. About halfway there, Keith had an idea. It's probably a bad idea since it's almost dinnertime, but...

 

He's not their dad. So he's not  _ really _ responsible for if their appetite for dinner is ruined. “So…” The kids look up at Keith, curious. “...do you two want some icecream?” Both the kids gasp, and get really excited. Keith swears James is vibrating is his seat.  

 

“Yeah yeah yeah!! I want a biggest one!! The absolutest largest biggest one!!” Leah nods her head frantically in agreement.

 

“Well, we're not going to get a huge one because it's almost suppertime.” The kids ‘aw’ in disappointment. “...or we could just not get any at all.” the kids gasp, shocked.

 

“No no! I want some even just the itty littlest bit!” James frowns a little, thinking Keith is serious. 

 

Keith smiles at them a bit. “Alright, alright…” He pulls into the turning lane, towards the nearby Mcdonalds.

 

Two small mcflurries and a shitty coffee later, they arrive back at the apartment. No one has finished their food (or drink), but it should be fine. The trio make their way up to the apartment, and Keith opens it for them. “Now, be quiet, your papa might still be sleeping.” The kids nod, looking at each other and doing the ‘shhh’ symbol at one another. They giggle, taking off their little velcro shoes and running off to their room. Keith smiles, walking over to the couch. Lance is still passed out, but stirs once Keith walks over.

 

“Keith…?”

 

“Yeah, its me.” He sits on the armrest of the couch, reaching over to put his hand on Lance's forehead. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Like I got hit by a bus.”

 

“Yeah, you're still a little hot… did you take any more medicine?” Lance shakes his head. "I’ll grab it for you. The kids are in their room.” Lance smiles, sighing. 

 

"Thank you so much for grabbing them…”

 

“Its no problem. They were excited to see me.” Keith walks over, grabbing the medicine from the cabinet and just bringing the whole bottle over. “Question, are they usually not dried off?”

Lance laughs a little, coughing.

 

“Yeah, they like to play with their friends before they leave. So neither of them actually dry off.” Lance sits up a bit, grabbing the water glass Keith had retrieved for him before he left. Keith smiles a little, handing him the pills.

 

“Yeah, I was wondering about that. They were absolutely drenched.” Lance smiles, downing the pills. Keith watches him for a sec, adjusting his sitting position. "So, other than those crackers, have you eaten anything today?”

 

Lance thinks for a moment, setting his water down as he shakes his head. “I mean, I had half of an egg mcmuffin.” Keith raises his eyebrow. “...and that's it.” Keith gets up, heading to the kitchen. 

 

"Do you have any packaged soup or something?” He's opening the cupboards, trying to find out where this stuff is.

 

"Cupboard to the top left of the stove- are you making me dinner?”

 

"I'm making  _ us _ dinner, kids included.” he finds some packets for chicken noodle soup, and decides he probably need to make two. He opens up the bottom part of Lances oven, pleased to find that is where he keeps the pots and pans, and grabs a larger pot. "Pick a movie, were eating in there.” 

 

“Hope you like Disney.”

 

"What- why Disney? Why not like Jurassic Park or something?” 

 

“...Keith, that is a wonderful idea.” Keith smiles as he gets everything together. While he's waiting for the water to boil, he crack two eggs into a bowl and mixes it with a fork and some flour. Once everything is added in, and the soup is boiling, he adds some dollops of the egg-flour mixture to the broth, puts the lid on, and sets a timer for five minutes. 

 

“Alright, want me to grab the kids?” Lance nods, setting up the movie with like 3 different remotes. 

 

"Sure, but make sure they're in pajamas. They'll probably fall asleep.” Keith nods, heading over to the kids room.

 

After wrestling two four year olds into pajamas and almost overcooking the noodles, it was time for soup and the movie. The kids were sitting on the floor, clapping in happiness of watching Jurassic Park and having soup which… wasn't exactly homemade, but there were some large noodles in there which were exciting and new. Keith brought over a bowl for Lance.

 

“Bon Appetite, Good sir.” He hands Lance his soup, and Lance lets out a little hum. 

 

“Well, aren't you chivalrous.” He smiles, looking at his soup. “...Oh, you added other noodles.” Lance scoops one up.

 

“Yeah, Hiroko always added them to chicken noodle soup, even if we weren't sick.” Keith sits down on the futon, next to Lance. "It's just a taste of home, I guess.”

 

“...Hiroko?”

 

“...My mom? Kinda. Just watch the movie.” He takes a big scoop of his soup, shoving it in his mouth and gluing his eyes to the tv. Lance watches him for a moment, Frowning a little and looking at the tv as well.  

 

The kids and Lance eat their soup, so Keith put himself in charge of filling up their bowls. He was okay with one bowl for himself, he never eats much anyway. However, Lance and his family apparently had endless stomachs. What four year olds can eat icecream and two huge bowls of soup? These ones, apparently. But they are still four years old, meaning at around 8:30, halfway into Lilo and Stitch, they started to doze off. 

 

“Kiddos, are you getting tired?” Lances asked, the kids groaning.

 

“No…” James yawned, leaning against Keith's leg.

 

“I wanna finish…” Leah snuggles up to Keith's arm. The pair had long abandoned the floor to cuddle against Keith, because in their words, ‘Papa has cooties’.

 

Lance may or may not have teared up a bit at his kids refusing to cuddle with him.

 

Anyway, Keith rolls his eyes, sitting up a little. "No, cmon, its bed time. Get up, both of you.” Both the kids groan, slinking off the bed and rubbing their eyes tiredly.

 

“Make sure-” Lance coughs a little “Make sure they brush their teeth!” 

 

"They can go one night without brushing! It's fine, once I went two weeks!” The kids giggled, following Keith to their room.

 

“... _ Please _ tell me this was like, fifteen years ago!”

 

“Naw, this was like, last month!” He smiles, and the twins laugh. He can hear Lance gag, and he knows it's not from Lance’s cold. He quickly gets the kids to bed, putting the blankets over them. “Alright… sleep well.” he backs away from the beds, turning to leave.

 

“...Papa always reads to us.” Leah sits up, looking at Keith.

 

“...Yeah! Yeah, he  _ always _ reads to us!” James sits up as well, staring at him. Keith hesitates for a second, before making his way back over.

 

“Well… uh, what… book does he read?”

 

“Any of them!” James smiles. “They're all really good. I like the munchy ones.”

 

“The munchy ones!” Leah copycats, bouncing in excitement.

 

The munchy ones? What does that even mean? Keith thought for a moment… munchy, munch… oh. Robert Munsch. He looks at the little bookcase between the beds, skimming them. “How about… ‘The Paperbag Princess’?” The kids bounce in excitement, smiling. Keith grabs it and stands, looking around. He grabs a little stool from in front of James bed, pulling it between the beds and sitting down on it. “Alright,” Keith clears his throat, and opens to the first page in the book. “Elizabeth was a  _ beautiful _ princess…”

 

Keith left the room quietly, gently closing the door. He tiptoes back over to Lance, smiling a little. “They call Robert Munsch ‘Munchy’ books.”

 

"God, I know, isn’t it adorable?” Keith slips back into the futon with Lance, putting a blanket over his own legs.

 

“It is. No idea how you deal with them though. I barely watched them for half of a day and you were  _ here _ .”

 

“It's… a little stressful, but you get used to it.”

 

“Yeah, I guess so, seeing as you're sleeping in the break room every time you're back there.”

Lance rolls his eyes, shrugging. “... Can I ask you something that might not be cool to ask?”

 

Keith looks over at Lance, crossing his arms. “...What is it?”

 

“Who’s Hiroko?” Keith pursed his lips a little, looking down at his legs. He let out a sigh, before looking back up at the ceiling. “...Sorry, that was probably kind of rude to ask-”

 

“She’s my mom. Technically.”

 

“...Technically?”

 

“Well I was-” Keith sighs again, running a hand through his hair. “She adopted me when I was like eleven and I guess I just don’t call her mom. Shes nice and all but I just- I dunno she's not.  _ My _ mom.” The room was silent other than the ending credits from Lilo and Stitch. Lance, after a moment, puts an arm around Keith and rubs his shoulder.

 

“It’s cool. Sorry- sorry I pushed it.”

 

“...You didn't push it. Guess I've just. Never really told anyone.” Keith laughs a bit. “I'm a little shitty with relationships.”

 

“A little?” Lance smiles at him, teasingly.

 

Keith smiles a bit, chuckling a bit. “Stop being an asshole, sicko.”

 

Both men laugh at that, before Keith gets up to turn off the lights in the living room. There's a small nightlight in the corner, but Keith thinks nothing of it. He lives in a house with a couple of four year olds, there's probably a nightlight in every room in the apartment. Keith crawls back into bed beside Lance, whose eyes are already closed.

 

“If you're still sick by morning you're not going to whatever other job you have.”

 

“But I need to pay bills-”

 

“I’ll help you! I live in some dinky little rental house- you've seen it. I have a roommate I never see and shitty neighbours that live in the basement. Listen; I don't pay much for it. I can easily help you pay rent or groceries or whatever.” Lance listened to him, and then smiles. He sniffles, and Keith doesn't know if it's because Lance is about to cry or it's because he's sick. Lance leans against him, resting his head on Keith's shoulder.

 

“...That means a lot to me, Keith.” Keith smiles, wrapping an arm around Lance.

 

“Yeah… just, don't get me sick as a thank-you gift.”

 

“...I’ll try. Goodnight, Keith.”

 

Keith smiles at that, closing his eyes as he relaxes against the other man.

 

“Goodnight, Lance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading this!! its been a couple months because i was busy and then i got super sick, which inspired this chapter. Im still kinda sick but Im getting better now! hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, its super long!!


	7. Christmas shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has to buy gifts for his family and friends, and the kids must come with.

Lance remembers the first time he got lost in a large store.

 

He was five, and he and his family had just moved to the US. All of the moving boxes weren't going to show up for another day or two, so his mama took him and his three sisters to the nearest walmart to get food and clothes. She had told Lance not to go running off, and to stay close to her. She told him that every time they went to the store; however, looking back she probably meant that more than ever. At the time, Lance knew some basic phrases in english. In cuba, he would've been able to ask people to look for his mom, or at least talk to people who worked at the store. How are you supposed to talk to people if you didn't even speak the same language? Little Lance didn't understand why everyone didn’t just speak spanish.

 

Anyway, long story short he did not listen to his mama and ended up in the toy area, a helmet on his head and a foam sword in his hand. He was scared, for sure. He was in a strange country in a strange store with strange people, all who spoke a strange language. He had situated himself in a corner, helmet on and sword out. He would defend himself, if he had too. However, after a good ten minutes of huddling in the corner, his oldest sister had finally found him. He didn't let go of his mamas hand until he was properly in the car.

 

From that experience, he knows that if you're a little kid and you're lost in a store, you need confidence and communication skills to survive. Lance is 100% certain his kids have both of those traits, however, whether they'll use them to find their papa, he's not quite sure.

 

“Leah! James!” Lance pushes the cart down the outside of the food aisles, peering through each opening. “We are going to your tía’s house! You get to see your cousins! I heard Leo got a new lego set, and that Maria wants to show you her painted nails!” He moves a little faster, sighing. He notices a few aisles over is a small, black shoe. Lance walks over and picks it up, looking at it. No doubt about it, this is definitely Leah's shoe. He wonders for a moment if she's wearing the other one, or if it has also fallen off. He puts the shoe into the car, before turning down the nearest aisle and towards the toy area. Thats where kids would go, right? Suddenly, the noise of about 7 plastic balls hitting the ground fill his ears. He whips his head around, to spot a sea of multicoloured ball and two, small kids.

 

Dear god.

 

Lance makes his way over, in record speed.

 

“Okay, that's it, in the cart!” Both the kids look over at Lance, and they gasp loudly.

 

“Papa-”

  
“Leah did it!”

 

“I did not!”

 

“I do not care who did it, I told you two to not wonder off, and what did you two do?!” The kids frown, and look down to stare at their feet. Lance picks up James, setting him in the basket of the cart. He then does the same for Leah. “I was going to get you two a treat, but running off and making a mess is not chocolate bar worthy.” Both of the kids get a sheepish look on their faces. Leah twiddles her fingers, looking up at her papa.

 

“...Aren't you going to clean that?” She points at the sea of balls. Lance looks at her, putting his hands on the cart handle before speeding off.

 

“Absolutely not.”

~

Lance mentally goes through his checklist. Pork? Check. Christmas cards? Check. Gifts for his niece and nephew? Check and check. He takes a quick glance at his kids while he's opening his wallet for cash, watching them fawn over the toy he got for Leo. He still needs to buy them a gift, both from himself and from Santa. Other than that, he doesn't think he has to get anything for anyone else. He and Hunk have a Homemade-gifts-only pact, so usually Hunk gets a shitty figurine of something and Lance gets excessive amounts of christmas baking. Other than buying the kids gifts, he's all good to go-

 

“So, papa, what are you getting Keith for christmas?!” Leah smiles up at him, putting down the toy box.

 

Oh, god, he forgot about Keith. His face blanks, as he hands the kids the bags of stuff. They gladly take it, rummaging through for any possible goodies.

 

"I'm not- I'm not sure.” He pushes the cart, making his way out from the tills to the door. “I still have to buy him something.” James and Leah look at eachother, and then smile a little.

 

“You should get him a puppy.”

 

“No! Keith doesn't Like puppies!” Leah let out a gasp, as though someone told her they had thrown away her favorite stuffed animal.

 

“What do you mean Keith doesn't like puppies!”

 

“Well-,” James makes a small thinking face, “He said he used to have a kitty.”

 

“Oh. Okay.”

 

Lance chuckles, amused at his own kids inability to realize you can like both cats and dogs. When they reach the car, he opens the trunk and adds all the groceries in before taking the kids and putting them in their seats. He pushes the cart towards the cart return. He would put it away, however, he doesn't trust leaving two four year olds alone in a car, even if he would only be a few feet away. Not for a moment. He hops in the car, starting it, and looks in the back mirror to make eye contact with his kids.

 

“Alright, you two are heading over to your tía’s,” Both kids gasp and wiggle in excitement. “So papa can go buy some stuff, okay?”

 

“But you just bought stuff!” Leah makes a little pouty face, staring at Lance though the rear-view mirror. James leans over and loudly whispers to his sister.

 

“It means he's buying us gifts!” Leah's mouth forms a little ‘o’ shape, before nodding.

 

Lance raises his eyebrows, chuckling a little before leaving the parking stall.

~

Buying for the kids was the easy part. He had to get two sets of gifts, santa gifts, and dad gifts. James has always wanted a nerf gun. Sure, the package says 6+ and he's not even five yet, however Lance learned how to use a slingshot when he was three, and rocks are much more dangerous than soft little foam pellets. Besides, they're his kids, he can raise them however he wants. Leah was a little harder to buy for, however Lance has noticed shes really like drawing and colouring lately, so he got her a sketchbook and some scented markers. For his own gifts, he got them both a matching pair of rollerskates, and of course a helmet and some padding. His sister has a cement basement, so although it's december and rollerblading outside won't happen for a while, they can learn in there.

 

Lance tosses the items into the cart, sighing as he mindlessly strolls through aisles. What would Keith want? What does Keith like? He sighs as he continues his stroll, walking pass the tech area. As he's browsing, a pair of headphones catch his eye. They’re black, with kitty ears on top. The inside of the ears are red, and- oh my god, they glow. Lance stares at the box for a moment longer, before picking it up. The kids said Keith likes cats, right? And they are red, which Keith seems to wear a lot… not to mention James did break his previous pair.

 

Lance gently sets the headphones in the cart, finally finishing his holiday shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes.... christmas shopping..... in august...... lmao anyway, the headphones lance gets are based off of ones they had at a con i recently went to! i went as Beach hunk, and Lotor! it was an awesome con. Got lots of art. This chapter is also a little shorter thank usual, but hey! its a chapter.
> 
> Id also like to say thanks to like the 4 people that proofread this? yall are great.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! thanks for reading!! this is... abt the second fic ive ever wrote, so i hope its alright. Im not sure if this is gunna be a series of oneshots in a collection, or just snippits in each chapter of what happens. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ ill figure it out, probably. The title is also a work in progress.


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